Egypt court orders retrial of 152 Brotherhood defendants

An Egyptian appeals court on Saturday ordered a retrial of 152 Brotherhood defendants charged with violence that followed the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, state-run MENA news agency reported.

The 152 were initially sentenced last March in a mass trial of 545 defendants. Thirty-seven of the defendants were sentenced to death and 115 others sentenced to life in prison.

The defendants were accused of attacking police stations in Mattai village in Upper Egypt's Minya province and killing its deputy head after policemen dispersed two major sit-ins staged in Cairo and Giza by Morsi's supporters in August 2013.

They were also accused of breaking into government institutions, shooting at police forces and seizing police weapons.

Many of the outlawed Brotherhood members and secular activists are in prison awaiting trials related to inciting violence, conspiring with foreign powers to destabilize Egypt and killing protestors.

The Egyptian judiciary is criticized by many international human rights organizations and local opposition groups of politicizing its rulings in favor of the current pro-army regime.

However, the government says it has no influence over Egypt's justice system. Enditem